Improvement in eeed musical instruments



latten tang strat @ft-'ira .tousv o. Barcos, or ANsoNIA,'ooNN no`TroUT.Lenmpafent No. 63,066, dared Marat 19, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN REED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

@In dgchulc referat tu' in tlgrse trtters 'jlntrnt mit making pttt nftigt sinn,

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONGERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. BRIGGS, of Ansonia, in the county of NewHaven, and State ot` Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full` clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming pu-rteot` thisspecification, in which- Figure I is an elevation ot' a section of onlyso 'much of the interior ot' a 'cabinet organ as it is necessary to showin order to illustrate my invention, the plane of section being acrossthe instrument.

vFigure 2 is a section of the parts shown in tig. 1, the plane ofsection being in the line a: x of iig. I.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve that class of' musicalinstruments known as reed instruments, which arc variously distinguishedas cabinet organs, harmoniams, and melodeons, and also by other names. Iform a sound-chamber below the wind-chest, the bottom of saidsound-chamber being the bottom of the instrument, and its top a flexiblediaphragm which becomes the bottom of the wind-chest. The bottom ot' thesoundchamber forms a rellecting board, and is provided with a series ofridges, consisting of strips permanently fastened thereon and extendingclear across the chamber, the number of ridges being varied, accordingto the power or character of the instrument, from two to six in the.space of a foot. VThe said sound-chambers are separated from each otheronly by said ridges, whose height is only about halt' the height ot` thechambers, leaving consequently a clear space between the tops o theridges and the flexible diaphragm, so that all the sound-chambers are incommunication with each other. The'said chambers vare each open at frontto the external air by mea-ns of openings through the case of theinstrument, said openings being concealed by a curtain or cornice it'desired. The iieXible diaphragm is continuous beneath the Whole range ofthe reed-board, but it is attached to bars running across thewind-chest, said bars being numerous enough to prevent the diaphragmfrom being moved upwards too 'near the valves. The diaphragm entirelyseparates ,the wind-chest from'the soundchambers.

In this example of my invention the letter A designates the reed'boandof a cabinet organ, but the reeds and valves are left out. I3 is thewind-chest. The bottom G ot' the instrument, which usually forms thebottcm of the wind-chest, is lowered to about twice the usual distancefrom the reed-board to enable me to form soundchambers, whose height isabout equal to the height of the Wind-chest, the two being separated bya close flexible diaphragm, D, which forms the bottom of the wind-chest.In order to prevent the diaphragm from being forced upwards to a pointtoo near the valves, it isv attached in'any suitable way to the bottomof strips C, which extend across the wind-chest, their ends beingsecured in the front and back rails of the case. These strips arenumerous enough to prevent the diaphragm from interfering with the freeaction of the valves, and they may be as numerous as the ridgeshereinafter mentioned, which separate the wind-chambers from each other.i The letters F designate Sound-Chambers formed beneath the diaphragm,the bottom G ot` the instrument being the bottom of the said chambers,and forming a reflecting board for all of them. '.lhc sides of thechambers do not rise high enough to isolate them from each other, beingcomposed of ridges or strips, E, of wood or other suitable material,which will assist in reflecting sound, said strips being secured bytheir ends tothe front and back rails of the case. Each sound-,chamberis made open to the external air by means of openings, H, at their frontends through the front of the case.' These openings may be lett exposedto sight or may be hidden by a cornice or an ornamental screen orcurtain of any kind. .By means of this construction the tone of reedinstruments is greatly improved, being mellowed and deprived ot` thepeculiar harshness which is considered by some an objection to theiruse. Tile sound-chambers may be said to compose Aone continuous chamber,since the ridges that div-ide them are not high enough to isolate themfrom one another. The flexible diaphragm permits the vibration of theair caused by the motions of the reeds to be transmitted or communicatedto the air in the sound-chambers, the reeds being yet confined so thatthey vibrate in a. closed chamber.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The separation of the wind-chest of la mclodeon by a flexible diaphragmD, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

JOHN C. BRIGGS. Witnesses SYLvEs'rnn Bassoon,

